No Trace
by thelittlerat
Summary: Part of the MS MR Golly Secondhand Rapture Master List – Track 11.


_Thank you #onetownthatwontletyoudown for creating this little project. This story is a departure of sorts for me, but I wanted to be true to the mood of the song. I welcome your thoughts. I wrote this almost stream of conscious so any grammatical errors or typos are purely mine and I apologize. Cheers. —thelittlerat_

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><p>No Trace<p>

The leaves beneath her feet cracked and crinkled as she walked deeper into the woods. She could smell the rain heavy in the air before she even began to feel the first few drops lay upon her skin. The beginning of the storm that was brewing wasn't enough to deter her movement. She walked with purpose even though she had no real destination. All she knew was she wanted no needed to get away. She needed to remove herself from the shrill sounds of the girls doing everything they could to ensure they had a guy to hold by the end of the night. Using men to show the other women they could still get whatever they wanted when they wanted it. She had to get away from the men, boys really, trying to act like men holding their bottle of beer in one hand and the other wrapped around someone they'll call darlin' and princess that night and then never call again after.

It was supposed to be the last get together of her small circle of friends before they all went in their own directions for college and jobs. It was supposed to be a campfire in the woods with her boyfriend and less than ten others. It turned into a bonfire with the entire graduating class. Truck after truck hauling in kegs, people and loud music…. Each grating on her nerves just a little more until she finally started an argument with her boyfriend, snagged a bottle of Cuervo off some passed out undergrad, and just started walking deeper and deeper into the woods using the stars as her guide. That was until the clouds stormed over and left her kilometers beyond the party and half the bottle down her throat.

Gail finally stopped mid-stride to take in her surroundings. She was pretty sure she was in part of the woods she had never been, but she wasn't completely sure. It was at least 2 a.m. and the darkness that had descended finally began to settle into her bones and raise the hairs on her neck in anticipation of what lied around her…waiting…wanting. The bottle in her hand felt heavy - each new drink burying a past and splitting a future. A duality of time crossed the branches seeking refuge and deciding the fate of all those below.

A gust of wind whirled into her path and kissed her lips and cheeks. Before she could even blink, a set of brown eyes were staring into her blue ones. She should have been frightened. She should have run or hit or screamed. Anything but just stand there taking in the man quietly taking her in as she did him. He was about her age - a little taller, but still short for male standards and a little scrawny. She had never seen him before in school, but that didn't really mean anything. She mostly hung with her own crowd or kept to herself. Gail knew she was only considered popular because of her circle of friends. They had been friends since childhood – tossed together by parents before their own personalities were shaped enough to see how different they really were. By the time they reached their teens, it just seemed easier to stay together than create a new circle. Gail knew if that had happened she would have been on the outside. It's where she was finding herself now as they all finally began to seek the independence graduation had gifted them.

This guy seemed like an outsider too and that somehow brought her comfort. He was staring at her intently, but it wasn't scaring her. Nothing about him suggested he was anything but another stranger passing through the night. He actually looked almost surprised by her appearance in the woods – like she had climbed through a black hole and wound up standing in front of him. He crooked his head to the side and took her in so she did the same - the silence between them deafening yet familiar.

It wasn't until he reached up with his cold shaking hand to touch her face, did she finally react. Taking a step back, she held up the hand holding the bottle defensively, letting him know both the hand and bottle would be used against him if he tried to touch her again. He shyly gave her a lopsided grin and held his hands up in mock surrender. There was something about that smile – that Cheshire-like lopsided glint of wonder – that Gail immediately filed away in her alcohol flooded mind as one she knew would one day be her undoing.

"I didn't think I would see anyone here. I haven't in what feels like hours…or maybe its days. I don't know. I was just checking to see if you were real."

Gail gave him her patented glare – the one that let the other person know they likely didn't have the IQ points to continue a conversation with her.

"Well, loser, I'm not a ghost." For effect she waved her hands in the air and made a few whoo-hoo sounds. She smirked in his direction pleased and amused by her own joke.

To her surprise he just smirked back and said, "Well maybe I am, ever think of that?"

Gail took a drink and looked up into the night. "Perfect. Just my luck; I decide to take a stroll through the woods at whatever-the-fuck-in-the morning, and I come across the nerdiest, twerpiest ghost on all the intergalactic planes. Why couldn't I get Yoda. I want Yoda!"

The guy laughed loudly seemingly amused by his new companion among the trees. "You like nerds."

Gail looked offended, "Whatever. You're weird."

He smiled that lopsided way once more. "You like weird too."

"I'm nineteen, drunk, and talking to a guy that thinks he's a ghost in the woods. I don't know what the hell I like and you sure as hell don't either."

He just shrugged his shoulders and took a few steps towards what looked like the top of a ravine. Gail watched his movements closely - squinting her eyes slightly to adjust for the darkness and rain that had lightly begun to fall. His body was relaxed, resigned even, but his face was awash with something she had never seen before. There is an acceptance in the way he creased his brow, a reverence in the way his lips curled upward and he held his chin towards the sky. Gail couldn't figure out why he was there or what he wanted, if anything at all. Her curiosity got the better of her.

"Are you lost?"

He didn't turn, but said, "All who wander are not lost."

Gail huffed, "See, told you – nerd. Tolkien is king of the nerds."

Still with his back to her and yet she could almost see his smirk regardless, "And yet you knew the quote. See, told you; you're one of us."

Gail was starting to get frustrated and tired from the whole exchange. This guy was killing her buzz. "Look, if you're lost, I can probably help you find the road. I'm heading that way anyway. I guess it wouldn't hurt if you followed."

This time he actually did turn. Gail took a step back from the intensity of his eyes connecting with hers. The brilliance held her at a door, immobilizing her, and forcing her to recognize that there was something about this moment…this man…that was writing her future. A future written in the passage of time through the past – this space and time was more meaningful than she could logically comprehend.

She was caught out of her reverie when a finger, the lightest of touches, ghosted her cheek.

"I told you, I'm not lost." He looked side-to-side before turning his attention back to Gail. "I think I'm home."

Gail wasn't ready to let his words really permeate her thoughts. She also looked from side-to-side as he did. "Some home you got here, buddy."

He smiled and played along. "It beats my last one though… I mean it's not where I thought I would be, but it has its pros."

"Oh yeah? Do the raccoon and bears cuddle with you a night? Do you read each other bed time stories?"

"No, but a hot blonde crosses my path every now and then, so it has that going for it."

Gail volleyed, "Well don't think I'm going to cuddle with you."

"No. I don't want that."

Gail noticed a very serious expression cross his features before they eased up again and he joked, "Who said you were the blonde? Sally the bear is quite the looker, I'll have you know."

Gail shrugged her shoulders and grinned, "Does Sally have liquor?" She took a swig from the bottle and held it up. "See, I'm still the reigning blonde around here."

His serious expression returned. "You should really stop drinking now. There's still time. Please stop."

Gail gave him a confused look. "You're being weird again. I can hold my own, buddy. Look it was real, but I should be going. People are going to be looking for me."

Gail went to take a step, but was caught off guard by the sudden intrusion into her space. The guy was now only a few inches from her. She immediately tensed and gripped the bottle tighter in case she needed a weapon.

"Get out of my way or I'll hurt you."

"No, you won't. I'm not going to hurt you either. Drop the bottle. Please."

Gail glared at him again and stood her ground. "Who ARE you?"

"I'm no one. I'm a guy who lost his girlfriend to his best friend. I'm a guy who took a walk down the street and ended up in the woods. I'm no one – no trace – no memory of to be held close and remembered in love – no regret of what could be."

Gail didn't know how to respond. She half thought she had blacked out and this was all a dream, but it seemed too real. He seemed too real and yet there was something about him that wasn't. She looked up and saw the clouds had cleared. The stars were once again illuminating the night's sky and she knew she could easily find her was back to the camp. Without even a goodbye she turned to walk away.

She felt a hand reach for her elbow to stop her so she quickly pulled away and pushed him hard. He took a few steps back, but quickly regained his footing and fell in-line with her steps.

"Get away from me! Now!"

"I can't do that. I swear I'm not trying to hurt you. Just drop the bottle and I'll let you go."

Gail shot him an angry look. "Why do you care so much about my blood alcohol level, huh? I told you I was fine, so just leave me the hell alone. Go find Sally the bear and call it a night."

"I know it sounds crazy and you know what, it probably is but I don't think I can do this without you. I just need you to listen to me about this one thing. Please stop drinking. That's it – that's all I ask. There's time. You'll get to the road and you'll head back to the party and this entire conversation will become some weird memory you'll spend the next ten years wondering if it was real or not, but it is. We were meant to cross paths tonight. I was meant to help you – to have you stop before it was too late and in return you'll help me. One day I won't be lost anymore because you will find me. You'll say my name and the traces of who I was will lead you to your future."

Gail inhaled sharply taking in the frantic heartfelt plea of the man before her. There was something about this guy that made her listen when everything else in her was telling her to run. She couldn't wrap her mind around the riddle of his words and yet she couldn't turn away either.

"Fine. You want the bottle so bad, take it. It's shitty tequila anyway." She tossed the bottle in his direction. He didn't move to catch it and instead let it crash and break against a rock near his foot.

"Thank you."

Gail shrugged a shoulder. "Yeah, whatever. I'm heading toward the road. You sure you don't want to follow?"

"No, I'm going to stay behind."

Gail turned and began walking again. This time she wasn't taken by surprise when she felt him once again join her.

"I don't think you quite understand the rules of the game we've created here, buddy. See, I asked you if you wanted to follow and you said no, and yet here you are doing the following."

He smiled in her direction. "I'm sorry. I guess I just wasn't ready to leave yet. I'm going to miss talking to you."

"Not a sentence I hear every day…"

He laughed. "You will. One day, you will. You'll grow up and you'll find yourself and someone who loves hearing you talk."

"I thought you said all who wander are not lost. How do you know I am?"

"Sometimes it's not about what is lost, as much as what is missing."

"Because the traces of you will lead me to my future and blah, blah, blah…. No wonder our paths never crossed in school, you were too busy putting in overtime at the drama club or maybe it was the phych floor at Mt. Sinai."

"Actually our paths did cross once and they'll cross once more, but you won't remember."

"Seriously, you're weird and that isn't just the tequila talking."

"Maybe. I guess. I should go. I think our time is up."

Gail shook her head, "Said the geeky guy in the woods. Ohhhhhoooo" Gail whistled into the air letting the wind carry her voice off into the night.

He chuckled. "You would make a horrible ghost. I'm glad we ran into each other. Have a good night."

Gail stopped smiling and took one last look at the man – the boy – that stood before her. She didn't know what possessed her but she found herself leaning in and gently kissing his lips. It wasn't long or passionate, but soft and somehow peaceful and brought warmth throughout Gail's body.

When she pulled back, she smiled at seeing his eyes were still shut. It almost made her want to lean in again, but she didn't and in a few seconds he was again looking at her.

"Why did you do that?"

Gail whispered, "I don't know. A first kiss that is also the last – there's beauty in that, don't you think?"

Tears silently fell down the man's cheek as he took a deep breath before releasing it as if it were his last. "Thank you. For that, thank you. Will you promise me something? Please."

"I already gave you the bottle."

"I know. This is just between us though. I won't beg, I'll just ask once."

Gail silently nodding in agreement.

"One day… One day, please fight. You'll let others walk away and you'll even be angry with yourself for letting it happen; just know that not everything is meant to be. But there will come a day when every part of your soul is telling you to hold on and fight. Please, just once, do it."

Gail couldn't help but ask, "How will I know it's that time?"

"You already answered that. There is a beauty in a first kiss also being the last."

Gail closed her eyes in confusion. Not fully understanding the weight of her own words being related back to her. She opened them again as she said, "But I've already had my first…"

She didn't finish her sentence because there was no one there to finish it for. He was gone – disappearing into the darkness. Gail released a breath from deep within her lungs and looked around once again. Had she imagined the whole thing? She never even learned his name. Before she could think too much about it a loud crack of thunder struck and a bolt of lightning lit up the sky. She quickened her pace toward the road hoping to get back before the storm got too bad. When she finally reached the road, she stopped once last time and turned towards the woods and whispered, 'I'll find you.'

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><p><strong>Ten years later<strong>

Gail took an aggressive bite out of the apple in her hand before throwing the core towards the basket at her desk. It missed by a good six inches but she didn't really care. Instead she swiveled in her chair and hit a few keys on the keyboard so it kind of appeared she was busy. She didn't really care that much, but with Oliver as Staff Sergeant she liked to at least give off the illusion of sincerity. On days like this, it was all that kept her from just napping in the locker room until her shift ended.

Most of the time, the act of not caring was just that – an act. She actually liked her job and wanted to do well, but there were some days when even the thought of getting out of bed was just too much to handle. It was on days like that she would have loved nothing more than to call off work, but that was just not something Peck's did. If her mother caught wind of it and Gail couldn't immediately provide admittance paperwork from the nearest emergency room, then she would hear about it for days. Sitting at a desk eating an apple was the much better alternative.

"Peck, Peck, Peck, Peck, my petulant Peck."

Gail didn't move anything except roll her eyes around and up towards the voice booming at her from behind. Before she could even think about responding, Oliver dropped a box of case files in front of her.

"Office Peck."

"Staff Sergeant Shaw."

"Yes, that would be me. Since you so kindly volunteered for desk today, I'm giving you an incredible and challenging task!"

Gail grimaced and frowned as she deadpanned, "Yippee. Thank you, sir. I'm honored, sir."

Oliver patted the lid of the box. "These files here have been sitting in my office from before it was even my office. McNally got though everything else, but these ones need recorded in the online ledger and filed. Guess who I'm nominating for the job? And by nominating, I mean telling them to do it."

"Chloe?"

"Nope. I'm thinking someone a little less…hmmm…."

"Perky? Chipper? Animated – like literally Disney-drawn animated?"

Oliver smiled, even though he noticed Gail hadn't during the entire exchange. Usually by now he could at least get a half-grin out of his friend. "Have I said please and thank you? I don't actually have to as I am the boss, but I will anyway. Please, Gail, and thank you, Gail."

Gail shrugged and flicked the lid off the box to take a look inside. There were a good many files and most looked completely disorganized like they had once fallen off a desk and just been thrown into the box.

"Did I mention these aren't all in their proper folders? Izzy may have accidentally…."

Gail held her hand up, "Alright, alright, just leave me to my paper hell please."

Oliver went to walk away but pivoted back and took a seat in the chair next to Gail's desk. "Hey, today's the day, huh?"

Gail didn't look up from her initial sorting on the papers. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Has her plane already taken off?"

Gail silently shook her head no. "Not until three."

Oliver looked down at his watch. "That's five hours away. There's still…"

"No, Oliver, there isn't." Gail all but whispered. "She took the job in San Francisco and I need to stay here. It wasn't going to work anyway."

"You don't know that."

"We'd already broken up once. What was I supposed to do, beg her to stay just so we could mess thing up again? Then she would have really hated me, Oliver. I would have kept her from a job she wants, ask her to adopt a kid with me she had no clue about until two weeks ago…how else could I screw up her life?"

Oliver placed a hand softly on Gail's forearm to get her attention. "Hey, it's not too late. That's all I'm saying. If you need to take some personal time today…"

"I won't."

"If you need to take some personal time today, I'll understand. If you're meant to fight for her, you'll know it."

There was something about Oliver's words that hit deep within her soul. She had heard them before from pleading eyes very much like her friend's. But that night hadn't been real had it? She had resigned herself to that fact ten years ago when she woke up the following morning with a killer headache and moments of her walk in the woods lost to tequila. Gail sighed; she was reading too much into things - telling someone to fight for love wasn't that original of a request. The day was just getting to her.

"Thanks, Oliver. I better get to work." Her boss stood and placed a hand briefly on her shoulder giving a squeeze of affection before heading back to his office.

After thirty minutes of meticulously sorting together piles of paper she thought may go together she finally got to the end of the box. She reached down for the remaining paper. It appeared to be an overturned photo. She curiously picked it up somewhat excited about matching it to its respective pile.

It took milliseconds of looking at the photo for all the air to leave her lungs and what felt like her heart stop cold. It was him – the boy in the woods. She had never been more certain of anything in her life. Even in what appeared to be a school picture, she could see the same haunting look in his eyes. His smile was for the camera, not for him, but still it had the very beginnings of the one she remembered – the lopsided one that melted her heart. When she realized where she still saw that smile – who also carried it – it almost split her world in two.

Gail quickly turned the photo around looking for some clue as to his name. She frantically tossed the rest of the files on the desk looking for some connection. He was around her age or at least she had thought so then. She didn't have any other information on him but it was enough to at least narrow down the files. She went through every paper as quickly as she could, but none of them seemed to be a match. Finally she gave up on the papers and practically ran into the detectives' office.

She put the photo in front of Traci's face not even caring that she was in the middle of typing something on the computer.

"Gail, what the…"

"Who is this? Do you know what case this is from?"

Traci went to take the photo and was surprised when she noticed Gail had no intention of letting go of it. She looked up to asses her friend and found Gail to be almost translucent she was so pale and her eyes were like fire.

"Gail, are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Please, Traci, do you know who this is?"

"Yeah and so do you."

Gail took a step back and ran her hand through her hair. "How? What? Oh god, I think I'm finally losing my mind. What are you talking about?"

Traci took a few steps closer to Gail and placed a hand on her arm. She could feel the heat radiating off Gail and for a second thought about calling Steve for help. She had never seen her friend in such a state. She decided to hold off on the back-up for a little while and try to reason with Gail first.

"Gail, we both worked on that case. It was about six months ago. Don't you remember the kid in the woods. He had been there for…"

Gail finished, "…ten years. He had been in the ravine for ten years." Gail put her hand over her mouth and closed her eyes as the memories of that day when they found the body came rushing back. She had been preoccupied by everything that had happened with Nick. She remembered thinking that section of the woods seemed familiar to her, but she had grown up not that far away so she didn't think much of it. Then Holly came and everything changed. Holly. He had said the traces of him would lead her to her future. Holly.

"Traci, can you pull up his file? Please."

"Gail, are you alright? You don't look that good."

"Traci, please?"

Traci nodded and walked over to a file cabinet on the other side of the room. They typically kept the paper files in the cabinet for a year before transferring them to the evidence room, so she imagined it would still be there. She used the time to try and calm her friend by making small talk.

"Wasn't this the case where you first met Holly?"

Gail swallowed hard trying to keep herself from losing her breakfast. "Yes."

"Sam's partner had turned himself him. Hit him with his truck."

"I remember. I remember everything."

Traci pulled the file and walked back to Gail handing it to her. "His name was…"

"Robbie Robbins. I never saw his picture, Traci. I just saw his bones and then the case was wrapped up and I moved on. We all moved on."

"Gail, why are you bringing this up now?"

Gail shook her head and went to open the file but stopped. Some things were meant to be done alone.

"Thanks, Trace. I'll get this back to you."

She didn't even wait for a response before walking out into the hallway. She slipped inside an empty interrogation watch room and immediately began devouring the contents of the file. There were statements from his best friend, ex-girlfriend, father and Sam's partner, Charlie. She skimmed through those briefly but wasn't really interested. She wasn't really sure what she was looking for but something told her to keep looking. When she got to a copy of his birth certificate she almost dropped the file.

Robert James Robbins was born on November 9, 1984 at Mt. Sinai Hospital of Toronto at 7:14 am. Gail started to laugh at the sheer absurdity of the situation she had found herself in. He had said they had met once before and she had chalked it up to him being weird and mysterious, but he was telling the truth. Robbie Robbins and she were born at the same time in the same hospital. Their lives had been connected from the very second they entered into this world.

She went back to the statement from Charlie and looked through his statement of that day – the day Robbie died. She knew the answer before reading it, but had to see the words anyway. He had asked to stop drinking. He told her he needed her to help find him so he wouldn't be lost anymore and she had – she just didn't realize it. She was just doing her job, but maybe that was the point. Maybe all he needed her to do one day was her job and the traces of him would be more than just bones hidden away in a ravine. He would be someone again – a name and a face - important to just one person. It was all he wanted - to be remembered and share in one final kiss. She closed her eyes and felt the last kiss of a boy who would be lost forever as she had walked up a path towards a road.

He told her she would know and she finally did. She finally understood. It wasn't about the first person you ever kissed, it was finding that one person that you kissed and realized you could never kiss another. Movies stop after the first kiss - that moment when two people finally come together. But life is about fighting for the last kiss. It's about throwing everything down and laying yourself bare in front of that one person that you want nothing more than to share that last kiss of your life with. To know that no other will ever touch your lips in the way they had.

Without preamble, Gail quickly walked back to her desk and dropped the folder before she set out to walk out of the station. Traci stopped her in the hallway before she could get out the door.

"Oh, no, you don't. Where do you think you're going?"

Gail exhaled and gave Traci a genuine smile. One to let her know she hadn't completely lost her mind. "I'm sorry I was such a nutball. I'm fine, really. I need to go though. I have somewhere I need to be and if I wait any longer it's going to be too late."

"Gail, I am so utterly confused by you today."

"Just today? I'm doing better than I thought."

"Gail…"

Gail widened her grin. "I need to fight for my last kiss, Trace. It's time I fight."

Traci was still flummoxed by the behavior of her friend, but the smile and mention of a kiss at least pointed her in the right direction. She knew what today was and she had a pretty good idea of where Gail was going.

"Lay it all out there, Gail." Before she could add 'good luck' Gail was already out the door.

* * *

><p><strong>Holly's House <strong>

Holly placed the last box onto the pile and took a step back to observe her work. In a way she guessed it was sad how everything you own could be reduced to a few boxes waiting to be picked up. In a way it was kind of comforting though knowing that material possessions couldn't hold you back from achieving your dreams.

Where they really her dreams though? The job was going to be great, and she knew it, but she just couldn't help but think about what she was really leaving behind – or who she was leaving behind.

Holly stopped herself from dwelling on what might have been. They had made their decisions and it was for the best. They both had lives and opportunities that were going to take priority for the time being. She'd still talk to Gail. They would still be friends. That was important wasn't it? It was, but she couldn't help feeling like maybe it just wasn't enough. She sighed deeply and looked at her phone to check the time. She had less than an hour before her taxi was there to pick her up for the airport. Forty-five minutes left to sit in the house and question every decision she had made in the last few months… It was going to be a long forty-five minutes.

Just as she was about to hop on the counter and sit for a while, a soft knock came from the front door. Before she could even think about checking to see who it was, the door swung open and Gail came barreling in. She didn't even get in a greeting before the blonde walked up to her, took her in her arms and began kissing her as if was the last kiss on earth.

It was minutes before Holly pulled back, mostly to get some air but a little out of confusion as well.

"Gail? What the… What the what?"

Gail bit her lip, "You see there were some inconsistencies in a report."

Holly tilted her head to the side and gave the other woman a questioning look. "Gail…"

"What? You're the only one that gets to pull that?"

"We said goodbye yesterday. Why are you here? Why did you just kiss me?"

Gail went to shrug but stopped herself. Now wasn't the time to be blasé or cute about the situation. She had a promise to keep. To Robbie. To herself.

"Stay."

Holly closed her eyes and took in the one word she had been hoping Gail would say in these last two weeks. Every time they had spoken, every meal they had shared, it was all Holly had wanted to hear. And now forty minutes before she was supposed to leave for the airport, Gail was standing before her devastating her with that one single word. She took a step back to remove herself from the circle she and Gail had created and ran her hands through her hair.

"Gail, what are you talking about?"

Gail took in every movement Holly made. She watched closely as a myriad of emotions crossed the brunette's face. In a perfect world, Holly would have just said yes and they would have lived happily ever after, but this wasn't a perfect world. She hesitated to answer and in that hesitation the swarm of insecurities began to flock around her and carry her back outside the house to the safety of not having the conversation. Of not putting every piece of her heart out there in front of the woman she loved. But she needed to do this. She needed to finally stand up and fight. To destroy or deny again what she felt was too much. It was worth the fall.

"Stay. Don't go. You're not supposed to leave. You're supposed to say and let me fight for us – let US fight for us. I didn't fight for Nick, or Chris and anyone else. I let them walk away. Sometimes I even pushed. But you… Holly if you get on that plane it will be the greatest regret. It will change everything."

Holly was awash with emotion. She couldn't focus on any particular one long enough to allow herself to feel it so instead she chose the one closest to the surface – anger. She threw her hand in the air.

"You can't do this, Gail! You don't get to do this! How dare you. How fucking dare you! Two weeks, Gail. Two weeks of watching me pack up all my belongings and sublet my house. You helped me sell my fucking car! And now minutes before I'm supposed to go to the airport you walk in here, kiss me, and demand I stay. How fucking dare you."

Gail listened to every word and watched as Holly frantically moved around like a caged animal. She wanted to mirror the action; thrive under the passion of emotion enveloping them both but she didn't. She steadied herself and found calm so rare within her. She needed the peace and serenity for them both.

"I didn't think it was fair to ask. I was a risk. I'm such a risk. I was too afraid to give you the forever you were searching for and I was throwing a kid in the mix too. It just seemed like too much to ask."

"So why are you asking now? What changed, Gail?"

"I quit being afraid of the forever. Hol, our future has already been written. When our paths crossed in the woods that first time…the moment you first kissed me in that closet…all of it. You're my last kiss, Holly."

Holly huffed and looked up at the ceiling. "When did you get so damn poetic?" Gail didn't respond so Holly continued. "What you're asking me to do. Gail, I have responsibilities and commitments. I have a ticket in my purse paid for by my employer that will be pretty ticked if I am not there to greet them off that plane. We'll work it out. We'll talk and Skype and make it work."

Gail knew she should agree. It was the logical thing to do, but she just couldn't. She knew too much.

"No. If you get on that plane and go to San Francisco, it won't work. We say it will, but time and distance will take their toll and one day I'll call and you'll look to see who it is and not answer. You won't want to take the time. It will seem insignificant at first and maybe I'll do the same a few weeks later, but it will be the beginning of the end. If you get on that plane we drift apart. We lose each other."

"It doesn't have to be that way. You said you wanted to fight for us. This doesn't change that."

"It does. Holly , it just does. Please stay."

Holly balled her hands into fists. Everything about the last few minutes was weighing heavily upon her. Gail was being unreasonable and dramatic. It was just a plane and a job. If they wanted to make it work, they would. She couldn't deal with this anymore.

"I think you should leave." She said quietly.

Gail looked up and straight into Holly's eyes. "No."

"Gail, please leave. Please just let me think."

Gail shook her head. "No."

This time Holly practically growled her response. "Go! You walk in here and you act like everything will just be made whole again if I don't get on a plane. It doesn't work that way, Gail. This isn't fantasy, it's reality. I need to think! You can't just do this and not let me think!"

Gail acquiesced with a nod of her head and a step back towards the door. "This isn't me giving up, Holly. If you need time, take it, but please don't get on that plane. Stay. Holly, I love you."

Holly choked back a sob but didn't say a word as she watched the love of her life walk out the door.

* * *

><p><strong>The Station <strong>

Oliver walked out of his office to grab a drink and snack. Actually he walked out to check on Gail, but no one needed to know that. Instead of finding his friend at her desk where he last left her, he found an empty chair and piles of his paperwork rummaged throughout the desk with one very neat folder and picture sitting on top. He went to pick up the photo, but discarded the action when Traci came up beside him.

"Have you seen Peck? I asked her to go through this box and she disappeared."

Traci grinned wickedly. "I think a certain someone finally figured out they needed to chase after a certain doctor."

Oliver shared in the grin. "Oh, yeah? What brought this on? She was very anti-chasing this morning."

"It's Gail, who knows. She came flying into my office looking for a case file and the next thing you know she was out the door."

Just as Oliver was about to ask Traci how she thought it was going to work out, he caught the sight of Holly bursting into the station. He couldn't hear what she was saying with her hands wildly waiving about, but he could tell from Dov's raised eyebrows and bewildered expression that it was probably best to intervene. He walked over to the front desk and released the door between them.

"Dr. Stewart, why don't you come with me? Officer Epstein, get the good doctor a cup of tea." Oliver waived off Dov's look of confusion and placed his hand on Holly's back guiding her towards Gail's desk where Traci still stood.

Holly noticed the 'Dad' mug sitting at the desk and immediately jumped into why she was there. "I let her go. Is she here? Please tell me she's here!"

Oliver and Traci both shook their heads as Traci responded. "We thought she was with you."

"She was. She asked me to stay." Before Holly could stop herself she started rambling. "It's just a plane. She just kept asking me to not get on the stupid plane. I think it was symbolic or something. I don't know. Maybe I'm losing my mind. I let her walk out the door. Who does that? Who tells the person they love to leave when they know with every fiber of their being that they want them to stay? I'm such an idiot. Where the hell is she?"

Traci responded, "She's probably not that far, Holly. It's not too late."

Holly gave a watery grin. "I feel like we never can get our timing right. We rush and we fall back. It never changes. I wouldn't even know where to look for her."

Oliver and Traci looked at each other both clearly indicating they had no idea how to proceed. A silence fell between the three of them. It was in the silence that Holly looked down and saw a young man's face looking back at her. She picked up the photo and stared intently at the picture.

"This is Robert Robbins. It was our first case together. He died too young."

Traci stepped forward and placed a hand gently on Holly's shoulder. "Gail found the picture today and asked me for the file. I think maybe she was remembering that day too."

"I'll never forget it. I was late to the scene. I had gotten mixed around in the back woods and when I finally arrived, there was Gail - stoic and irreverent all in the same stance. When I walked down toward the body…toward Robbie…I happened to turn back to catch something she was saying and suddenly there was a shift in me. Everything changed that day in the…" Holly looked back at the picture and file below before finished her sentence. "…woods. I have to go."

Holly started walking out of the station, but pivoted quickly back to the desk. She gently traced a finger across the photo before placing it lovingly back on the desk. She then turned to the two dumbfounded people standing next to her.

"Thank you both. Just thank you. Oh, uh, could I happen to borrow one of your cars? I kind of sold mine."

Oliver reached into his pocket and held out his keys. "It's the one in the spot marked 'Staff Sergeant Badass.' Please inform your girlfriend when you see her to quit making the rookies vandalize my sign no matter how awesome it sounds."

Holly grabbed Oliver by the shoulders and kissed his cheek quickly. "Will do, but you know she'll still do it anyway. Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Oliver and Traci watched Holly bolt out the door. They then shared mischievous grins.

"Ain't love grand, Detective Nash?"

"Why yes it is, Sergeant Shaw. You think they'll work it out?"

Oliver grinned again. "I don't have one doubt in my mind."

* * *

><p><strong>The Woods<strong>

Gail closed her eyes and listened to the wind blowing through the branches and the leaves crunching below. There was a peace in this place – this resting place of a soul entwined with hers. She could feel it in her bones.

When a body came close to her, taking a seat to her right she didn't even flinch. The hope of seeing Holly far outweighed the thought that it could be anyone else. She just knew who it was.

"I didn't get on the plane."

"I know."

"I somehow knew I would find you here."

"It's where we're supposed to be."

"I love you too, you know."

"I do. I've always known. But it's nice to hear."

"Yeah, it is."

"I kissed a boy here once - in these woods. He was my plus one for a night."

"Will you be my plus one? Will you kiss me?"

"Forever."

* * *

><p><strong>Two Souls - Two Worlds<strong>

Two souls forever linked had created their own game from the second the met each other in a nursery nearly thirty years ago. She would always be there to find him. She would remember his name and carry him close to her heart. She would give him his final kiss and in return he would give her a future worth fighting. He would close and open the doors and carry her through the darkest hours - for they couldn't be one without the other.

You see Gail was supposed to drink the rest of the bottle and fall into a shallow cave. Her friends would search for her and instead find Robbie. Broken and battered but still alive gulping his last breaths as the rain poured down upon him, filling his lungs with water. They would find him first and he would be saved and Gail would be lost with no trace.

And Holly was supposed to walk onto that plane. She would have silently cried with every step knowing she was leaving something behind, but not truly understanding all that it was. The search for a new life would have ended hers three days after arriving in the city she was to call home. A long walk alone would have been too inviting of a conquest for a madman in search of his next fix.

But those stories weren't part of the pact two souls had shared. Worlds split into two - the duality of time and a future written in the past.

-The End.

* * *

><p><strong>Acknowledgement <strong>

This story was inspired by the song 'No Trace' by MS MR. All references to the song and lyrics are owned by MS MR, not the author.


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